Two horrific overs from Ravi Rampaul ensured yet another heart breaking defeat for the men from the Caribbean Islands. Ravi leaked 16 off the 20th over as T&T slipped at the final stages of the match. He then contrived to concede 18 in the super over, a score that was a bridge too far despite the valiant efforts of Lendl Simmons.

It was a sense of dejavu for the men from the Caribbean Islands. They were defending 2 runs off the final delivery yet again. This time though, they managed to limit the batsmen to a single to force a super-over only to endure another heartbreak.

The finalists of the inaugural CL T20 were up against each other having come out of contrasting losses in their first match. While the Blues were walloped by the resurgent Cape Cobras, Trinidad and Tobago suffered a heart breaking defeat at the hands of the Mumbai Indians. A win for either teams would kick start their campaign while another loss would put their tournament hopes in jeopardy.

Opting to bat first after winning the toss, Trinidad had the perfect start as Lendl Simmons glanced Steven Smith for a boundary off the very first delivery. Simmons took his time to settle down before clubbing two boundaries off comeback man Stuart Clarke in the 4th over. Adrian Barath joined him in the fun carving Patrick Cummins for a couple of boundaries as T&T finished their powerplay overs at 40/0 .

The healthy opening partnership was terminated by Simon O'Keefe when he ripped through the defences of Adrain Barath for 15 breaking a solid opening partnership of 41 runs. O'Keefe bowled only 1 over during the heavy loss against the Cobras but he showed why he is rated so highly in the domestic circles. The loss of Barath slowed down the charge of the boys from the Carribean as only 14 runs came from the next 3 overs. Frustration began to creep in and resulted in the dismissal of Darren Bravo who went for an ungainly swipe off Moises Henriques for 6. T&T were 57/2 at the half-way stage.

On a pitch which was increasingly becoming slow and low, Simmons and Daren Ganga struggled to play the big shots. NSW read the pitch well and the bowlers took the pace off the ball. Henriques and O'Keefe maintained a disciplined line and length even as the batsmen struggled to get going. Only 38 runs came in the 8 overs after the powerplay as T&T struggled to 78/3 after 14 overs.

Dinesh Ramdin, though broke the shackles with a couple of boundaries off Steven Smith even as Ganga survived a close run-out chance. It was just the sort of luck that Ganga needed and he celebrated the reprieve with a massive six off Henriques. NSW though kept pegging their opponents back taking wickets at regular intervals. Ramdin, who looked like the one to provide the required boost fell for 19 to leave TT at 106/4 in the 17th over.

The acceleration never came about as the NSW bowlers managed to keep a tight leash. They were well supported by the fielders and it required some late biffing by Rampaul and Cooper to help T&T reach a respectable 139 in their quota of 20 overs. It was a respectable score but T&T would be disappointed that none converted their starts into something big.

David Warner began the chase in a circumspect manner. He was happy enough to play out a maiden off Samuel Badree but then opened up with some powerful mows as the T&T attack withered. Shane Watson was the perfect foil to the aggression of Warner. He was lucky to survive a confident appeal for LBW off Rampaul when he was on 1. Runs came in a hurry as Badree was taken to the cleaners. The Blues raced away to 43/0 when the powerplay was done with.

Suni Narine looked like the one who could effect the breakthrough and he duly delivered to dismiss a shaky Watson for 14 to break an opening partnership of 48 runs. Sherwin Ganga has been the weak link in this T&T attack and it was evident as he let some pressure off conceding 10 runs in the very next over. Ganga though scalped the big wicket of David Warner in his next over, bowling him for 38 to leave NSW at 67/2 at the half-way stage of the chase.

The advent of spinners had tightened the screws on the chase and Sherwin Ganga grew in confidence on a pitch where the ball occasionally stayed a touch low. His day further improved when he castled Daniel Smith to leave NSW wobbling at 72/3 after 12 overs. With three spinners at his disposal, Ganga could afford to keep attacking and NSW were left wobbling. The middle overs had been tough for both the teams with NSW managing only 40 runs in that period.

The pressure was evident and Steven Smith added to it by holing out to the deep to gift Ganga his 3rd wicket. Simon Katich struggled to get into grips with the chase on a slow and low wicket before Rampaul ended his grim stay with the Blues still needing to score 2 runs per ball of the final 15 balls. The deteriorating pitch made it even harder for the later batsman as they ended up struggling to lift the rate of scoring and it looked like T&T would be easy winners.

Moises Henriques had other ideas though. In a fine display of calculative stroke-play, he stroked 3 boundaries which included 2 off the final over from Ravi Rampaul and showed tremendous faith in the batting of young Patrick Cummins who helped himself to 7 off 3 balls. Rampaul conceded 16 off the 20th over and it was all down to the super-over to separate the two teams.